Newton was born in Oak Grove, Louisiana in 1942 and grew up in Oakland, California. He graduated high school, but before he could go on to college he had to teach himself how to read. At Merritt College, Newton met Bobby Seale and together they formed the Black Panthers. They organized the group in response to police brutality and racism. During the 1960's, the Panthers claimed up to 2,000 members in different cities.

The Black Panther Party at it's best was a group of young people trying to make life better for Black people. Of the many stories about the BPP little is said about the good they were trying to achieve. They thought of themselves as brave young warriors out to make a better way of life for their own. As with revolutions, there is always the opposition that oppose the changes being attempted.

In 1967 Newton was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the death of a police officer. The conviction was overturned about 2 years later and he was released from prison. In 1974 he was again accused of murder and he fled to Cuba. He stayed in Cuba for 3 years and when he returned to the US he was tried twice--both trials resulted in hung juries.

The Black Panther Party disbanded in 1982. In 1989 Newton was sentenced to a 6-month jail term for stealing funds intended for a Panther-founded school in Oakland. In August of the same year, he was found shot dead on a street in Oakland. It is believed that he was killed by a drug dealer.

What killed this man? Who killed this man? Was his death by design? These are questions that will be debated for years to come.